Rapid Shift

Single mine rivals coal emissions of whole countries, plus job and economic benefits much lower than promised and environmental costs much higher

Single mine rivals coal emissions of whole countries, plus job and economic benefits much lower than promised and environmental costs much higher

The Carmichael coal mine in Australia will emit 79 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year — more than the annual emissions from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and about equal to the average annual emissions from both Malaysia and Austria. The projects will also emit three times as much carbon dioxide equivalent per year as the city of New Delhi, six times as much as Amsterdam, and twice as much as Tokyo.

“The mine pits themselves would be 40 km [24.85 miles] long and 10 km [6.2 miles] wide, bigger than many capital cities,” the authors write in the report. “At peak capacity the mine would output 60 million [metric tons] of thermal coal per year. Adani expects Carmichael will output 2.3 billion [metric tons] of coal over its lifetime: enough to build a road one-meter thick, ten-meters wide, wrapped around the world five times.”

This past August the project’s original approval was overturned in court, only to be re-approved by Environment Minister Greg Hunt in mid-October. Most of its coal would be purchased by India — a country that’s third in the world in terms of carbon emissions. The Adani Group’s job-boasting advertisements have also been challenged by experts — Adani’s own economic consultant has said that the project would only create 1,464 net jobs, and not 10,000 as Adani has claimed. The economic benefits have also been questioned, considering coal prices have dropped 52 percent within the last four years. The analysis also did not take into account potential impacts from the Queensland Mine to the Great Barrier reef.

Cross-posted from http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/16/3722647/single-coal-mine-create-co2-emissions-entire-countries/